The beneficiation of titaniferous ores involving contacting the ore with chlorine in the presence of carbon yields vaporized iron chlorides and carbon dioxide as by-products. Due to anti-pollution laws, it is becoming exceedingly difficult to dispose of the by-product iron chlorides. Further, great economic incentives exist for a process in which the iron chloride is oxidized to chlorine and the chlorine then recycled to the process along with make-up chlorine if needed. However, prior to my invention such a process involved the oxidation of the mixture of iron chloride and carbon dioxide and the subsequent separation of the chlorine formed from carbon dioxide by cryogenic means which adds considerably to the cost of the process. The oxidation of iron chlorides is described in my patent U.S. Pat. No. 3,865,920 and other patents where vapor phase oxidation of beneficiator off-gases is described.
Another approach to iron chloride oxidation involves condensation of iron chlorides and re-volatilization followed by fluidized bed oxidation taught by J. I. Paige, et al., Jour. of Metals, 27 12 (November 1975) and by R. H. Sawyer U.S. Pat. No. 2,642,339. The condensation approach has the disadvantage of requiring not only condensing equipment but heat for re-volatilization and/or heat transfer equipment. Attempts to lower the temperature of ferric chloride oxidation to improve the reactor heat balance either with a catalyst as taught in U.S. Pat. No. 3,376,112 or extended retention time have not been commercialized even after several decades of labor in this field.